There is a very particular charm about klezmer music that cannot be found in other styles of music. It's a kind of melancholic exuberance; at once happy and sad, klezmer sounds simultaneously like laughing and weeping. Klezmer is a musical genre in a constant state of evolution. Perhaps it's history lends itself to this- the original klezmorim were itinerant musicians who would travel around the shtetls of Eastern Europe performing at weddings and other occasions, until displacement of the Jewish population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw klezmer make it's way to America where it met with jazz and other western music. These qualities make it difficult to pinpoint exactly what klezmer is today. To quote Gustavo Bulgach, whose band Klezmer Juice is featured on this collection, "klezmer is like a soapy pig. Everybody's trying to catch it, but every time someone gets ahold of it, it slips away from them."
2 Bucimis (A Dance from Bulgaria) - Gregori Schechter & the Wandering Few
3 Hassidic Melody No. 6 - the Burning Bush
4 Stetl Tango - Transkapela
5 Europeyishe Kolomeyke - She'koyokh
6 Oberek Palota - Yale Strom
7 Is Gekummen a Klesmer - Jontef
8 Dos Lidsun Der Ayznban - from Both Ends of the Earth
9 Galitzyaner Tantz - Klezmer Festival Band
10 Hey Klezmorim - Rubinstein Klezmer Project
11 The Chess Tune - from Both Ends of the Earth
12 Hey! Zhankoye! - Lucie Skeaping
13 Itamar Freilach - Klezmer Juice
14 Kishniever Bulgar / Vo Bist Du Geveyzn Far Prohibi - the Burning Bush
15 Waltz Medley: Shloimele Malkele/Di Zun../Margaritk - Klezmer Juice
16 Dem Baal Shem Tovs Zemerl - from Both Ends of the Earth
There is a very particular charm about klezmer music that cannot be found in other styles of music. It's a kind of melancholic exuberance; at once happy and sad, klezmer sounds simultaneously like laughing and weeping. Klezmer is a musical genre in a constant state of evolution. Perhaps it's history lends itself to this- the original klezmorim were itinerant musicians who would travel around the shtetls of Eastern Europe performing at weddings and other occasions, until displacement of the Jewish population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw klezmer make it's way to America where it met with jazz and other western music. These qualities make it difficult to pinpoint exactly what klezmer is today. To quote Gustavo Bulgach, whose band Klezmer Juice is featured on this collection, "klezmer is like a soapy pig. Everybody's trying to catch it, but every time someone gets ahold of it, it slips away from them."
